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Cloudera Teams With Leading Universities to Bridge the Big Data Talent Gap

Unveils Global Cloudera Academic Partnership Program to Train the Next Generation of Data Professionals

PALO ALTO, CA--(Marketwired - Apr 18, 2013) - Cloudera, the category leader that sets the standard for Apache Hadoop in the enterprise, today announced the launch of the Cloudera Academic Partnership (CAP), a global program designed to equip leading universities around the world with curriculum and training to offer comprehensive Big Data courses for engineering and analytics students. As Hadoop adoption continues to proliferate in the enterprise, demand for skilled data workers is on the rise. Cloudera developed the CAP program to address the shortage of qualified data professionals and support the development of a skilled workforce capable of accelerating the new data economy.

"There is no question that demand for qualified Big Data professionals is increasing rapidly, while a shortage of trained workers is creating a major skills gap in the marketplace. The next generation of developers, administrators, and analysts can become the first to include new platforms like Hadoop alongside traditional databases and business intelligence tools," said Ben Woo, managing director at Neuralytix Inc. "However, colleges and universities have historically not had the necessary resources to include these advance data technologies in their curricula, with the burden falling on employers to find existing certified professionals among the short market supply or retrain their employees to keep pace with technology. It is intelligent of Cloudera to foster development of this future workforce early and at the source, and it is a great service to professors and students around the world. The Cloudera Academic Partnership is the first of its kind, and the company is aggressively leading the charge in Hadoop education and innovation."

How the CAP Program WorksProfessors and students affiliated with CAP program institutions can freely download a wide selection of Cloudera's industry-leading training materials and receive discounts on all Cloudera Certification exams. Professors also qualify for deep discounts on Cloudera University training delivered by Cloudera's team of expert Hadoop instructors, and benefit from up-to-date curricula, classroom tools, instructor forums, dedicated program support, and the world's largest Hadoop knowledgebase.

Cloudera Education Software License ProgramAccredited, non-profit academic institutions also can take advantage of the more robust features of Cloudera's software suite through a special University License. CAP members have free access to Cloudera Manager Enterprise Edition for 12 months to support data-intensive testing, development, and research. In conjunction with Cloudera's industry-leading open-source CDH platform, the University License provides CAP participants with the tools needed to achieve major breakthroughs in Big Data.

CAP Global Charter MembersCAP's seven charter members include:

Auburn University (Alabama)

California State University, Los Angeles (California)

Harvard University: Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (Massachusetts)

Purdue University (Indiana)

San Jose State University (California)

Technische Universität Berlin (Germany)

The University of Stavanger (Norway)

CAP Program Member Testimonials: San Jose State University, Auburn University, and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard University

San Jose State University
Founded in 1857, San Jose State University (SJSU) is located in the thick of the Silicon Valley. With 30,500 students, it is the valley's largest institution of higher learning. Its Department of Computer Science first offered its "Introduction to Big Data" course last year, in an effort to meet the market demands for qualified engineers and analysts working on massive data sets. SJSU was the first university to adopt the CAP program, with the help of Peter Zadrozny, a Big Data lecturer with over 30 years of experience in technical and executive roles.

"Big Data is one of the hottest technology segments right now. Everybody is at least talking about Big Data, and with San Jose State being in the heart of Silicon Valley, we are excited to pioneer this work in the academic realm. This would not have been possible without Cloudera," said Peter Zadrozny, Big Data instructor at San Jose State University. "I designed the course with the employer in mind. Students will have cleared the bulk of the learning curve by going through this course. When graduates seek employment, they will have a three- to six-month productivity jump on other candidates. I'm especially pleased that this training gets students hired and working creatively with data."

Zadrozny noted that enrollment for the CAP course has been strong and student response has been "very positive."

"The comprehensive CAP course materials enable professors to spend less time on lesson planning and more time with students, or on independent research," he added.

Auburn University Founded in 1856, Auburn University is one of the largest universities in the Southern United States, with 25,000 enrolled students. The university prides itself on its rich history of offering innovative educational opportunities through interdisciplinary work and is committed to providing unique educational opportunities that will direct its student body on clear paths to success in the real world. Dr. Thomas Marshall has led the charge to develop a compelling Hadoop training program that will engage students and help them to acquire the skills needed to discover data-driven breakthroughs across industries.

"This is an opportunity for us to be at the cutting-edge. Participation in the CAP program distinguishes Auburn as a great innovator and leader. Our goal is to leverage this technology to create a real-world lab where we can work to solve problems that have societal impact," said Dr. Thomas Marshall, associate professor at Auburn University. "The impact will be prevalent not only in the amount and quality of professionals we will prepare for the workforce, but we also believe we can utilize this technology to explore answers across industries like healthcare, clean energy and so on. By using an enterprise-proven platform, combined with the knowledge shared from the top minds in the industry, there's no telling how far we can stretch the value of this technology. I am excited to partner with Cloudera in developing a new learning environment that creates career opportunities and stimulates our students."

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Computational Biology at Harvard UniversityFounded in 1997, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard University is the largest comprehensive cancer center in the world. The institute's Center for Cancer Computational Biology focuses on the intersection of biological science and information science, in which managing and analyzing large and increasingly complex datasets are essential elements for research success. Computation is evolving to take a place alongside theory and experiment as one of three pillars necessary to support scientific inquiry in modern research enterprises. As technologies have matured and the ability to generate data has improved, the question has increasingly become how to turn data into knowledge and knowledge into understanding. The center is leveraging Cloudera's University License to answer that question.

"We have several labs sequencing massive amounts of genomic data that needs to be mapped and processed, then delivered back to scientists. We are investing in this technology because we see an enormous amount of intelligence hidden in this data," said Stas Alekseev, systems administrator at the Center for Cancer Computational Biology. "We are constantly grappling with the amount of data we need to store and analyze, so we needed to transition away from our aging existing systems. Cloudera was our logical choice because it is a pre-packaged, enterprise-proven Hadoop solution that reduces our delivery time to the scientists from weeks to days and potentially hours."

Foundation for CAP Program Curriculum: Cloudera University The CAP program curriculum was developed from the industry-leading training courses and technical certifications offered by Cloudera University, which focuses on Apache Hadoop, its ecosystem and data science. Cloudera University offers the world's most complete and comprehensive Hadoop education programs for data professionals. To date, Cloudera has trained more than 15,000 participants and certified more than 5,000 Hadoop professionals. Over half of the Fortune 100 and all of the top 20 global technology firms have leveraged Cloudera's expertise to train employees on Apache Hadoop. http://university.cloudera.com/

"As Apache Hadoop and other advanced data analysis and management applications proliferate in the public and private sectors, demand for data professionals is skyrocketing and the dearth of qualified applicants to address this need continues to grow. Cloudera recognizes the need to incorporate advanced data skills training into the curricula of higher education and believes CAP represents a measurable leap in addressing the big data talent gap," said Mark Morrissey, director of education programs at Cloudera. "We are honored to be partnering with leading educators to deliver a real world solution to this major challenge, and we are excited to support the development of a rich, viable talent pool that will fuel the future growth and vitality of the new data economy."

Learn More: Cloudera Academic Partnership Webinar on May 16thJoin Cloudera Director of Education Programs Mark Morrissey for an informative webinar on Thursday, May 16th, at 1 PM (Eastern) / 10 AM (Pacific). The webinar will offer a comprehensive overview of CAP program objectives and benefits, and details on how to become a member. To register, visit: http://go.cloudera.com/webinar-cloudera-academic-partnership.

About ClouderaFounded in 2008, Cloudera pioneered the business case for Hadoop with CDH, the world's most comprehensive, tested and widely deployed distribution of Apache Hadoop in both commercial and non-commercial environments. Now, the company is redefining data management with its Platform for Big Data, Cloudera Enterprise, empowering enterprises to Ask Bigger Questions™ and gain rich, actionable insights from all their data, to quickly and easily derive real business value that translates into competitive advantage. As the top contributor to the Apache open source community and a leading educator of data professionals, with tens of thousands of nodes under management and hundreds of customers across diverse markets, Cloudera is the category leader that has set the standard for Hadoop in the enterprise. www.cloudera.com